Rox roll to 16-0 rout after Anderson dazzles

September 17th, 2017

DENVER -- On a record-breaking night at Coors Field, the Rockies rolled to a 16-0 win over the Padres behind a stellar start from left-hander , who went six innings and gave up just two hits in his first start since June 25 (knee surgery). With the victory, Colorado increased its lead for the second National League Wild Card spot to 3 1/2 games over the Brewers, who lost to the Marlins.
"It was the same thought process as last time [four scoreless relief innings against the D-backs on Monday]," said Anderson, who took a no-hitter into the sixth. "Whether it's out of the bullpen or starting, just executing pitches with 30 pitches or 100 pitches or whatever you can do."
Charlie Blackmon surpassed Craig Biggio's 1998 NL single-season mark of 88 RBIs out of the leadoff spot with his 89th RBI in a five-run Rockies third inning. Blackmon went 2-for-4 with his 35th home run of the season. also made history, becoming the first third baseman to ever drive in 125 or more runs in three consecutive seasons.
Blackmon, Arenado earning MVP buzz

also had a big night, going 3-for-4 with a double and his 13th homer of the season in the fifth, which Statcast™ projected to travel 427 feet. hit a pinch-hit grand slam in the seventh to make it 16-0, his fourth pinch-hit homer on the season.
It was a rough night for former Rockie , who made his third start as a member of the Padres and gave up seven runs on eight hits over four innings.
"This is a really good lineup," Lyles said of his former teammates. "It's one of the better ones in baseball, obviously. They got in good situations in good counts in the [third], and they put five across. I got to be a little more aggressive next time. Make some more quality pitches. But overall, it's not the outing I was looking for."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Third inning's a charm: The Rockies sent nine batters to the plate in the third against Lyles, putting five runs on the board. led off with a single, was sacrificed to second by Anderson, and scored on the record-setting double by Blackmon. It was also his 81st extra-base hit of the season out of the top spot in the lineup, another NL record (surpassing Jimmy Rollins' 80 in 2007).
DJ LeMahieu, Gonzalez and Arenado followed with consecutive singles, and two batters later, singled in two more to make it 5-0.

No-hitter broken up Manuel-ly: With two outs in the sixth, Padres center fielder hit a slow dribbler out in front of the plate and legged out an infield single, the first hit of the game against Anderson. followed with another single, but Anderson then struck out to end the threat.
"He was cutting it in well," Padres manager Andy Green said of Anderson. "Probably more so than he did last time we saw him last year. The changeup has always been his second pitch. Recently he started throwing the cutter more, and he was cutting it on righties very well. He threw the ball well. Part of us right now is we haven't had good at-bats with anybody. It's about four or five days in a row where that's been a consistent theme. You can tip your cap to the other guys, or you can look at yourself in the mirror and say we got to get better."

Myers exits after fouling ball off leg
BENCH-CLEARING HIT-BY-PITCH
Padres reliever was ejected from the game in the sixth inning with the Rockies leading, 10-0. Diaz came in to start the inning and struck out looking. He then gave up three runs on three hits, yielding a single to right from Lucroy, a single to left from pinch-hitter , and a towering three-run homer to right from Blackmon.
"He's a young kid on the mound, and he struggles with command from time to time," Green said of Diaz. "We look back at the Charlie Blackmon pitch and say he wouldn't try to throw that pitch right there either. The Amarista pitch, he wasn't trying to throw that pitch right there either. You look at a lot of pitches and say he's not throwing the ball where he wants to throw the all, it's a byproduct of having a 6.00 or 7.00 ERA."
With LeMahieu -- 2-for-2 with a walk and two runs -- at bat, Diaz hit him in the left biceps area with the first pitch. LeMahieu started slowly to the mound while unleashing some commentary, and both dugouts and bullpens quickly emptied onto the field, though there was no physical altercation between the teams. Home plate umpire and crew chief Gerry Davis ejected Diaz and warned both managers.

"They're trying to navigate a dicey situation right there," Green said of the ejection. "I understand their frustration. It's pretty easy to understand. You give up a big home run and you hit a guy two pitches later. That's universally understood that that's a time guys throw at someone. We weren't throwing at anybody at that time. Miguel Diaz wasn't trying to do that."
"Just the circumstances that led up to that -- a three-run homer, it had been a very frustrating game, probably, for their pitchers, and then two balls inside, that just didn't look right," Rockies manager Bud Black said. "As far as DJ's fire, it might not show up outwardly at times, but man, it's in there. This guy competes and has a lot of intensity."
came in to pitch after the ejection and with the infield shifted with third baseman playing behind second, the Padres recorded a 6-5-3 double play to end the inning.
QUOTABLE
"Individually, we're doing what we need to do well: pitching-wise, we're throwing great recently, our bullpen's been good. Defense has pretty much always been good. And lately, we've been swinging the bats. It seems like we're kind of pulling it together." -- Blackmon, on the Rockies' surge of 10 wins in 13 games
"Anderson threw the ball well, but we haven't made it tough on anybody here recently. That's us, that's not somebody else." -- Green, on the Padres' offensive funk and five-game losing streak

WHAT'S NEXT
Padres: makes his first Coors Field appearance since June 23, 2014, when he wore a Rockies uniform in his sixth season with his former club. Chacin is 23-23 in 68 career games (61 starts) at Coors Field with a 4.21 ERA. First pitch of the series finale is Sunday at 12:10 p.m. PT.
Rockies: will take the mound as the Rockies seek a sweep of the Padres on Sunday at 1:10 p.m. MT. Gray has given up three runs in 13 innings (2.08 ERA) over his past two starts. In his last outing, on Tuesday at Arizona, he allowed two runs on seven hits over seven innings, striking out 10 and walking none. Preview >>
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